Results of the Al Golden poll:
Question: Of all of Al Golden’s good qualities, what ONE does he do best?

Running the show (CEO) 40 (42%)
Recruiting 30 (31%)
Public Relations 22 (23%)
Coaching during games 2 (2%)
(Note there were two votes for coaching during games. Thanks, Alfred, and Kelly for voting.)

We don’t usually talk Temple basketball here.
Not because I don’t like the sport (I do, I used to play lunchtime fullcourt for an hour every day at the Doylestown YMCA in my 20s and 30s) or Temple basketball (I do), but because I don’t enjoy the sport nearly as much as I do football.
I like playing basketball.
I like watching football.
That’s the difference.
For me, Temple basketball is no more than a diversion between the end of the football season and the Cherry and White football game. I understand for a lot of the university it is much more than that and that’s cool.
I bring up basketball today because both the Temple basketball and the football teams had something in common during this calendar year.
They both got hosed.
I did watch the A-10 basketball championship game with Richmond last year from the comfort of a treadmill in the gym.
Afterward, all the talking heads gushed all over Temple.
One of the guys, I forget his name, said: “This means Temple is a three (seed) and I think you can even make an argument for a two.” The other three agreed that Temple deserves no worse than a three.
On the ride home, I thought three, dreaming of a two.
I wasn’t the only one, as this story from the 700 Level indicates.
Then I got to the Liacouras Center and saw it was a five.



ESPN led its 3 p.m. show Monday with Temple.


As Muhammad Wilkerson would say on his Facebook page, smh.
(That’s Shaking My Head for anybody over 30.)
Everybody said Temple got hosed. Nobody said Temple deserved a five.
I thought about Temple getting hosed while on the stairmaster yesterday afternoon, watching ESPN. The tease to the college football show at 3 p.m. was:
“They beat a BCS Conference champion, finished 8-4, and nobody wants them in their bowl. We’ll tell you why in a few minutes.”
Ugh.
I couldn’t wait.
I had to get off the stairmaster and get to work.
I pretty much knew what the story was anyway.
After I got home last night when reading all the reaction across the country, pretty much agreeing that Temple’s football team got hosed out of a bowl bid.
What is this about Temple and getting hosed?
It wasn’t the only time Temple’s got a big-time hosing on the national stage.
Speaking about UConn, remember UConn?
Instant replays in 2007 clearly showed Bruce Francis catching the game-winning touchdown, yet a Big East replay official, Jack Kramer, let a call on the field stand instead of doing the right thing, the proper thing, and overturning the call.
Oh yeah.
UConn was in the Big East.
Temple was kicked out of th same conference three years earlier.
I’m sure that had nothing to do with the decision.
Yeah, right.
Hosed?
What about Navy, 2008?
Temple’s defensive front wall stopped a Navy ballcarrier cold. A whistle was blowing loudly, so Temple stopped playing and a pitchout resulted in a game-winning touchdown.
Everybody heard the whistle (from a Navy fan in a white T-shirt) except the officials, who said it wasn’t them.
I guess those same officials would have flagged Temple for roughing the ballcarrier if they put him to the ground.
Temple lost in OT.
How about UCLA last year?
Apparently on the way to a big bowl win, Matt Brown gains two yards on third-and-one. All the replays confirmed this, but Temple was out of challenges. Oh wait. The officials rule him down inches short. Temple gets stuffed on fourth down.
Hosed.
Now this.
They said what won’t kill you will make you stronger.
If we’re not dead, we’re getting awfully strong.
I think we’re strong enough, thanks.

DEJA VU.. 20 years earlier …
Nov 23, 1990
By Mike Kern, Daily News Sports Writer
No, Temple (6-4) is not going to a bowl
for the first time since 1979, now
that the Independence Bowl has decided to take Louisiana Tech (8-3)and surprise
late entry Maryland (6-5).
And, yes, second-year coach Jerry Berndt is obviously disappointed.
But, no, he is not discouraged.
If the Owls can win at Boston College(4-6) tomorrow afternoon, it would be
the first time in 11 years they won more than six games.
“That’s something to be proud of,” Berndt said late last night.”There’s no
question, we felt we had a legitimate shot (at the bowl). And we did. Then, all
of a sudden, Maryland comes out of nowhere. But sometimes, you just don’t know
what’s going on behind the scenes. “
The Independence Bowl settled on Louisiana Tech and Maryland for the Dec.
15 game in Shreveport, La., after Baylor announced Wednesday night that it
was withdrawing from consideration.
The Bears, who remain in therunning for the Southwest Conference title and
a berth in the CottonBowl, had been under pressure from the Independence to make
a commitment.
“It’s unfortunate they (the Independence committee) made the decision
when they did, without giving us a chance to participate Saturday,” Berndt said.
But I feel pleased for (Maryland coach) Joe Krivak. And they did upset Virginia.
We’ve had one of those miracle kind of seasons(after going 1-10 in 1989), and it
would have been a great reward. But as I told the squad today, it’s something we
have no control over. We can’t let it affect us.
“They were down. But we had a good practice. I hope we’ll use that as
a little more incentive. The fact that we were even considered shows some
respect for what we’ve done. It’s a credit to the players and the staff to
even be considered. It’s a real privilege and an honor, particularly coming off
of the season we had last year.”

This just in … players are reporting on their numerous Facebook pages that the Owls did not receive a bowl invitation.
I can’t say I’m surprised.
Earlier this week, I posted a “30 percent chance at no bowl” and got assailed that the number was way too high.
Well, I was around in 1990 when a 6-5 Maryland team got picked over a 7-4 Temple team, so I have viewed these opportunities with a jaundiced eye ever since.
The list of 8-4 teams who have not made a bowl this decade is a very short one.
The list of 8-4 teams who have beaten an 8-4 Fiesta Bowl-bowl BCS Conference champion by two touchdowns and not made a bowl is even shorter.
One.
Temple University.
There’s plenty of blame to go around and we will address it in the days ahead, but here is the Cliff Notes’ version:
Temple has way, way, way (did I say way?) too much talent on the offensive side of the ball to be struggling to score points.
Some one’s head is going to have to roll and the guy operating the guillotine is a good friend of the potential rolling head, so I don’t know if he has the gonads to release the cutting device.
Also, please make sure the defensive coordinator reads former Eagles’ coach Jimmy Johnson’s book on blitzing.
It might come in  handy next year.
I’ve never seen a Temple team in my life make slow, white, quarterbacks look like Peyton Manning by absolutely refusing to go after them with linebackers and safeties.
We have super fast linebackers, guys like Amara Kamara, who have a history of rushing the passer well at other positions. They were never used to do that this year.
We played an Ohio team that used the belly option to embarrass us in Ohio last year and, despite having a year to look at that film, seemed comfused and perplexed every time that same team ran plays out of that same formation this year.
The kids have a saying for that on Facebook these days.
WTF?
SMH.
Our offensive and defensive schemes need an overhaul.
Will they get one?
They better.
Our football life depends upon it.

The latest bit of controversy coming from Minnesota extends to a record-setting former Gopher player sending emails to eight Temple officials, including athletic director Bill Bradshaw, about the Minny AD’s underhanded methods of recruiting a head coach.

Joel Maturi, bad guy AD

The way these coaching searches are supposed to go is that the AD of a school looking for a coach is supposed to contact the AD of a school with a coach in order to get permission to speak to said coach.
This Minnesota AD, Joel Maturi, supposedly routinely skips over that protocol and that has riled some grads.
I say good for the grads, boo to the AD.
Turns out Temple never had to be worried.
Al Golden is not interested in Minnesota.
He still has bowl games, and championships, to win at Temple.
In bowl-related news, it appears the Owls will have to wait until tonight to learn of their bowl destination.
Saturday night was a good night, not a great one, for Temple.
The Owls needed three of the four teams vying for bowl eligibility to lose and one to win.
The good news is that Middle Tennessee State won.
That means no way, no how, are the Owls going to Detroit to play another MAC team and that’s very good.
The bad news is that Washington also won.
Louisiana Tech and Oregon State lost, which was very good.
The latest possibilities are vs. Fresno State in Boise, an unknown foe in New Orleans or Nevada in San Francisco.
Nevada ain’t happening, so my gut tells me Boise.
My heart tells me New Orleans.
Go heart.

Temple quarterback Mike Gerardi discusses the Miami game.

You hear it all the time.
“This is the most important game of the year.”
Usually, it’s hyperbole.
Not this year. Not with Temple.
The next game is always the most important because it’s the next game but Temple has had more games that were “most important” for other reasons, too, than any season I can remember in my 30 years of following the team.
Against Villanova it was the most important game because you could not retain any credibility in your hometown by losing to that school again.
Against CMU it was most important because it took down the reigning MAC power.

Temple at Miami (O)
TV/RADIO: ESPN2; WPHT-AM (1210).

Records: Temple, 8-3 overall,
5-2 Mid-American Conference;
Miami, 7-4, 6-1.
Series: Temple leads, 3-1.

Against UConn it was most important because it send a message to the Big East flirting with Villanova that, hey, there was a better-looking girl on the same block.
Against Penn State, it would have been a statement game nationally for the program.
And so on and so forth ….
It was true last week against Ohio and it is true Tuesday night at Miami.
Each game was and is more important than the prior game.
Here’s the reason why Tuesday night’s game with Miami is the MOST important:
Last week, Temple AD Bill Bradshaw sent out a questionaire to Owl fans about which bowl they consider most appealing to travel to, listing Boise, Mobile and Detroit as possible destinations.
My strong educated guess is that Boise was a runaway winner _ for last place. There will be no fans (other than athletic support personnel and parents) going to that game. Maybe the Boise alumni club (one person) will arrange a trip on a motorscooter.
Go to Mobile or St. Petersburg or Dallas and there are likely to be thousands of Owl fans, who will be watching tonight from home or area P.J. Whelihan locations where there will be organized Temple viewing parties. All locations will be having viewing parties with the biggest one at Blue Bell in Montgomery County.
Those fans know if the Owls don’t win in Miami (Ohio) tonight (7 p.m., ESPN2), they are likely ticketed for Boise.
Or worse.
Home.
That’s where it stands right now.
Even though head coach Al Golden assumed that the Owls were going bowling for the second straight year in the post-game press conference after the Ohio loss, a closer examination of the available data indicates that Temple could be left on the outside looking in with a loss.
That’s because it’s a 50/50 shot that all of the bowls MAC teams are listed as backups will be filled with primary conference tie-ins.
Win, and it’s impossible to keep a nine-win Temple team out.
Lose, and it’s a 50/50 shot at no bowl at all.
So this is the most important game of the year.
Until the bowl game.

Ouch.

TFF’s real and magnificent picks
Until I hit the lottery, I have two rules for betting:
1) Don’t bet with real money;
2) Wait until the season is at least 10 weeks old (in order to get a perspective).
But I do like to test my knowledge of college football against Vegas, so I’m happy to report I am 5-1 this year against the spread.
Two weeks ago, I was 2-1.
Last week, I lost on Iowa at Northwestern, but won on Fresno State getting eight at Nevada (it lost, 35-34), Louisiana-Lafayette getting 10 against Florida Atlantic (it lost, 24-23) and Tulsa getting the 3 at Houston (Tulsa won the game outright, 30-28).
This week’s picks:
Ohio State 21 at Iowa 10 (OSU favored by 3);
Northern Illinois 35 at Ball State 14 (NIU favored by 15);
WESTERN MICHIGAN 27, visiting Kent State 20 (WMU favored by 3);
Florida International 23 at Louisiana-Lafayette 20 (FIU favored by 10)

That hurt.
Sixteen returning starters, a Heisman Trophy candidate (going into the season, at least) and a team coming off a 9-3 season.
Another 9-3 season, to me, would seem to be going sideways.
So, at best, we’re going sideways.
Unless we finish 9-3 and win a bowl game.
Then we’re going forward.
Some of the more savvy amongst you might have noticed we changed our banner. Since Jan. 1, we put the heading “It’s Title Time” in it.
Since there will be no MAC title, I’m removing it.
Congrats to either NIU or Ohio.
The title time headline does not fit anymore.

Now I have to answer questions from my MAC brethren in the weekly MAC Bloggers’ Roundtable.
I can’t remember a week I have been up for this less, but these guys have blogged through some pretty tough seasons (except for NIU) so I will soldier on this time.
1. Northern Illinois is having a nice season and appears to be getting stronger. Do you think NIU is a Top 25 team as of today?

I think of two guys who gave young Al Golden a clinic in game coaching and Jerry Kill was one of them. Frank Solich was the other. I think if NIU plays Penn State or some decent above Northwestern-level (Dan Persa is out) Big 10 team and wins, which I believe it will, NIU deserves a top 25.

2. We talk a lot about skill players, but the game of football is often won and lost on the front line. Evaluate your offensive and defensive fronts, including your best players.

Adrian Robinson has been a season-saver (blocked extra point against BG, stolen ball for TD against UConn) and Mo Wilkerson is one of the top defensive linemen in the country. I’m extremely disappointed in everyone else across both lines with the possible exception of Sean Daniels, a true freshman from Highstown, N.J., who is an incredible talent at DE.

3. Similarly, special teams are an often overlooked part of football. Evaluate your special teams thus far this season and what contribution they have made to winning….or losing.

I thought James Nixon would be more deadly on kickoffs and Delano Green on punts. Neither one were, unfortunately. Brandon McManus had a solid sophomore season, but he could not afford to miss an extra point in the Ohio game and he did just that. He is an NFL kicker, though. No doubt.

4. To date, what is your best memory of this season? And what memory are you currently seeing therapy to block from your memory.

My best memory is getting revenge against UConn, beating that team by two touchdowns, and then watching that team beat West Virginia and Pitt. My worst memory is sitting there in the rain against Ohio and watching Frank Solich run the same schemes he did a year ago against Al Golden and Al Golden, with a year to watch that film, does nothing substanitive to counter Solich.

5. BG and Toledo have their rivalry game this week, and your team has had one on the schedule somewhere. Do you think rivalries are important to the quality of play in the MAC, or are they a distraction that make it harder to get up for other games.

I love rivalries. I just don’t think Temple has one with anyone in the MAC due to geography. Rutgers was the Big East rival and before that Delaware was the rival. Now Villanova is the rival for two more years.

6. Rank ‘em.

1. NIU


2. Ohio


3. Toledo


4. Temple


5. Miami


6. WMU


7. Kent


8. Ball State


9. Buffalo


10. BG


11. CMU


12. EMU


13. Akron

Army players hoisting the Lambert Trophy back in the day. This could have been us.

ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands Bowl Subdivision Football Poll
presented by FieldTurf … as of Nov. 15, 2010:

Record Points

1. Temple 8-2 184

2. Syracuse 7-3 168

3. Penn State 6-4 158

3. Navy 7-3 158

5. Pittsburgh 5-4 156

6. West Virginia 6-3 120

7. Connecticut 5-4 78

8. South Florida 6-3 72

9. Army 6-4 56

10. Louisville 5-5 40

ARV: Rutgers, Boston College.

Well, this was nice while it lasted.
On Monday, for the first time I can remember, Temple was voted No. 1 in the Lambert Trophy balloting emblematic of football supremacy in the East.
Syracuse was No. 2.
Penn State was No. 3.
Pitt was No. 4.
West Virginia was No. 5.
And so on …
I don’t care how bogus you might think the poll is, it is something.
This used to be a much bigger deal than it is today because there were only eight bowls throughout most of the 50s and 60s.
Yet, I still think it’s a big deal because Temple being No. 1 shows how far the program has come in terms of perception.
No. 1.
It lasted exactly one day. Maybe it would have lasted longer had the Owls not played and coached so poorly Tuesday night.
Maybe it could have lasted longer if they didn’t inexplicably line up with five guys in the backfield on the first play of the game, negating a 67-yard run by Bernard Pierce. How you practice for nine days and then make that mental mistake on the first play of the game is beyond me.
Maybe it could have lasted longer if this running team had the gonads to run the ball on a crucial 3d and 1 later on in the game, instead of throwing it.
In one fell swope, Temple lost not only a chance for a MAC championship but a Lambert Trophy.
It would have been nice to have both trophies next to the Mayor’s Cup at the E-O.

There was a movie in back in the 1980s called “The Day After.”
It was about the day after a nuclear war.
This morning after is not that bad, but close.
That’s just the way I feel.

I can’t imagine how it feels for the kids and the coaches who invested emotion and so much more into this program.
Kids are pretty resilient, though, and I hope they’ll be back to playing Temple football in less than a week.
What is Temple football?
To me, it’s running the ball behind a line that averages 318-pounds with an NFL first-round draft choice. I love Matty Brown. Love the kid. He’s a change-of-pace back at best and a fill-in who can get you 226 in a pinch against Army.
I want my NFL first-rounder back on the field and, failing that, I would like to give a bigger back (Ahkeem Smith) a shot to carry the ball next week and chew some clock. Then throw play-action off the run.
Temple football on defense is getting after the quarterback and forcing turnovers and being fundamentally sound against the run.
I did not see much Temple football on either side of the ball last night.
This I do know, though.
For the second straight year, my favorite Owl, Bernard Pierce, missed the Ohio game.
Do I think he’s glass?
No.
I think this young man has had incredibly bad luck.
Do I think Temple wins with Bernard? Easily. This kid is a first-round NFL draft pick in April, 2012. Matty Brown? Love the kid, but IF he’s lucky … IF … he might get a free-agent invite.
That’s reality as I see it.
This trying to split carries between Matty and Bernard has been a disaster. Making Brown a feature back really is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Let’s put the square pegs in the square holes and the round ones in the round holes.
Pierce, when healthy, needs to stay in the game and develop a rhythm. That’s what he did so well for most of last year.
Let’s hope he’s healthy for the final two games.
I’m not one of those guys who refuse to give the other team props. My hat is off to Ohio and Frank Solich, who coached the tan pants off of Al Golden for the second year in a row. Ohio made plays and Temple didn’t. For that alone, Ohio deserved to win.
This season has come down to this:
Win at Miami and the Owls go to the GoDaddy.com bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Lose at Miami and the Owls might not go bowling anywhere.
I hope to see you folks in Mobile.
More than that, I want to see real Temple football again and soon.

Nine days ago, I wrote a post entitled “Nine Days in November.”
It was as much about our fans recruiting other Temple people to come to the game tomorrow night (8 p.m., Lincoln Financial Field) vs. Ohio to  support the Owls as it was about the importance of the game.

This is an important game, no doubt.
How important?
Well, if the Owls win, they get a clear path to the championship game (Miami is an easier foe than Ohio).
If the Owls lose, there will be no championship.
If the Owls lose, they get sent to MAC Hell: The Hummanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, probably against a Hawaii or a Fresno State.
I don’t see any more than 100 Owl fans making that trip, God forbid it ever happens.
That takes care of the football end of the business.
You could make a strong argument about a more important aspect of the game being a strong showing by Temple fans.
A strong showing by Temple fans (in my mind, 25K plus) would send a clear message to the rest of the world via a national television audience (ESPN2) that Temple can keep Al Golden, that Temple can be a viable presence in a BCS conference, that Temple football can deliver the nation’s fourth-largest TV market in a big way (that last point was proven a year ago on Dec. 29).
Those are just some of the positive messages a packed house can bring.
A weak showing by our fans would be a disaster for Temple University’s national image. We have a chance to change all of the negative stereotypes in just one night, so let’s do it.
That’s why I’ve pressed more strange flesh in the last nine days than a politician in October.
In the last few months, I’ve seen tons of people wearing Temple stuff. Just never had the guts to say anything to any of them.
Nine days ago, I made a commitment to approach every one of them.
Nine days, 37 people. I talked the game up to every one. Eight of those people said they were coming anyway. Another 20 said they’d think about it. One elderly couple said they haven’t been to a Temple game in 20 years, but had nothing else to do Tuesday night and would be there.
Let’s face it.
Our core fan base is 15K. It’s a solid 15K. However, if each one of us recruited one or two more people outside our of group that base balloons to 30K or 45K.
In 24 hours, walk up to as many strangers wearing Temple stuff as you can.
Better yet, spread the word by Facebook and Twitter to every sports radio station and TV station websites, write comments on Philly.com after every Eagles’ story.
Do whatever you can.
Just don’t sit back and hope 30K come. Be proactive.
These kids and this university deserves the support.



This is the what I’ll be wearing on Tuesday night



Props to Al Golden and the football team for supporting the basketball Owls last night at the Liacouras Center.
If you were there, you would have seen a packed house approaching the 10K capacity of the arena and it included Al and his family and the family of Temple football players.
Impressive stuff, considering that the football Owls are nearing  the end of an intensive nine days of practice for the “most important game Temple has played in 30 years” according to Al.
Al Golden is right about this one.
It is the most important game that Temple has played in the last 30 years.
Al and the players supported the university on Friday night. It’s time for the university to support Al and the players on Tuesday night.
Heck, it is the most important college game in Philadelphia in the last 30 years as well.
Temple has to win the next two games for a chance to win the MAC championship game in Detroit, which is what this program’s stated goal as been from the start.
Never has a college game been played in Philadelphia at the Division IA or FBS level with a conference championship on the line in November.
Never.

That alone makes this the most important college game in the city in the last 30 years or maybe ever.
You might say Army and Navy, but when were they playing for a conference championship? Pride between two prideful schools is one thing.
A conference championship is a whole other thing.

When you add in the fact that it’s the only college football game on national TV (ESPN2) that night, nothing would put Temple University in a more positive light than a big, roaring crowd in the background.
If there ever was a time to “Cherryout” the Linc, it is now.
If Temple can draw 20K “Temple” people to D.C. in 11-degree wind chill, then at least 25-30K (and hopefully more) “Temple” people should be able to make the short trip to Lincoln Financial Field and wear their cherry proudly, whatever the weather is outside.
This is the hottest sports team in Philadelphia right now.
They deserve a rousing sendoff to postseason glory which only we and 29,999 or more of our closest friends can give them.

My picks today (I was 2 for 3 last week):
Iowa 30, Northwestern 17 (Iowa is a 10-point favorite on the road); Tulsa 33, Houston 30 (Tulsa is a 2 1/2-point underdog on the road); Fresno State 21, Nevada 19 (Nevada is an eight-point favorite at home) and Florida Atlantic 20, Louisiana-Lafayette 17 (LL is a 10-point dog on the road).

I have a sinking (stinking) feeling that the Owls will end up bowling here, my version of MAC hell, if they don’t win their next two games. I can only hope they win the next two.

My car stalled out on the way home and  thanks to triple A got a tow and finished last in the MAC answers department.
Here are my Week 11  answers:

1. There are still six teams in the MAC who can become Bowl Eligible. The two with the toughest road to hoe are Kent and WMU, each with six losses. Do either, neither, or both teams make 6-6 and potentially see a bowl.

I think WMU slips in there because one of the other conference tie-in bowls will have non-qualifiers. Plus, I like Bill Cubit.

2. In the past two years three coaches from the MAC have “moved up”. Brady Hoke in 2008 and Turner Gill / Butch Jones in 2009. Which Coach or Coaches more out in 2010. Also which coaches get tossed on the garbage heap of failed and fired MAC coaches.

Everybody will come asking Al Golden (Minnesota, Colorado) but those aren’t the areas in Al’s recruiting footprint. I think he would be extremely uncomfortable recruiting there. According to a guy I work with who is PSU-connected, some pretty influential PSU backers have let Al know through backchannels that he’s president’s Graham Spanier’s top choice as replacement for Joe in one or two years, that Al doesn’t need to prove himself at any place but Temple. Al never wanted to go to Tennessee, East Carolina or Cincy. He wanted Temple and I think the only other job he’d want is Penn State. He doesn’t want to go through the  sheer exhaustion of building a program like he did at Temple anywhere else. He can stay put at Temple and still go to PSU. He has all the time in the world. Plus Temple sweetened the pot by raising his salary from 575K to $1.2 mil. That’s a pretty damn sweet pot.

3. Right now three MAC teams are getting votes in various polls (NIU, Temple, and Ohio). Is the MAC starting to upswing off of the (real or perceived) fall off from 2004-2009?

Only Bowl wins will tell. I see NIU and Temple winning bowl games this year.

4. So far this season what has been the story that defines the MAC? Which player’s, team’s, or mascot’s news headline is most representative of the conference as a whole.

I think Mike Gerardi defines the MAC. With him, there’s no doubt in my mind Temple goes 10-0 so far.  No doubt.
It’s shocking to me that Golden stayed with Chester Stewart out of loyalty and hurt his team’s chance at true greatness. But Al is a stubborn guy so I admire his change of heart/head as much as I’m shaking my freaking head (smfh is the facebook abbreviation) over sticking with a guy who couldn’t complete a play-action pass to save his life.

5. Rank MAC squads in order of pure 2010 Power

1. Temple


2. NIU
3. Toledo


4. Ohio


5. Miami Ohio


6. WMU


7. Ball State


8. Kent State


9. CMU


10. Buffalo


11. Bowling Green


12. Eastern Michigan


13. Akron